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The new year and new decade are just three days away. The idea of 2020 seems so bizarre, given how far away that once seemed, say, when I was a teenager ... but here it is, three days away. The enormity of this milestone hasn't quite sunk in yet. I was blogging 10 years ago, when the last decade turned, and I wrote about the impending moment then . I declared, "This decade that is coming to a close was officially a blur." Wow, I didn't have a clue what a blur really was ... Compared with the past decade, the 2000s were relatively slow, because the 2010s were a blink of an eye. Yet, for my sons, the decade has probably felt like forever. Ten years ago, Michael was in kindergarten and Ben was in preschool. Time and its perception hasn't evolved for them yet. It's probably starting to for them as teenagers, but the time concept still varies widely to what adults -- especially parents with growing kids -- experience. I could pinpoint a few things that sp

Christmas 2019! Today was mellow and fun and moderately festive. We pretty much decided that the day would be relaxing, spent hanging out, playing games, watching "A Christmas Story" (which, after cutting the cord, we had to watch on Blu-Ray instead of TNT) and other holiday movies), eating at our leisure, and napping. Lori has a bit of a cold, Michael is still tired after finals, and I welcomed the day off. Ben got a new game, Mechs vs. Minions, from his godfather, and the two of us played that for a couple hours. I got two new pillows and tried them out in the form of a nap. Lori made a ham and rolls, which comprised our main meal of the day. The boys slept in, so we weren't opening presents until after 9 a.m. We all like the gifts we received. Oh, we got a dusting of snow overnight, so we had a slightly white Christmas. In the evening, we saw the new Star Wars movie, which was a heap of fun. I'm not sure why people aren't liking it. The movie isn't